Covering an area of roughly 287,000 square miles, Borneo is the third-largest
island in the world. It is divided into four political regions: Kalimantan
belongs to Indonesia; Sabah and Sarawak are part of Malaysia; a small
remaining region comprises the sultanate of Brunei. Located southeast
of the Malay Peninsula and southwest of the Philippines, Borneo is primarily
mountainous, with dense areas of rain forest. The highest peak in Borneo,
Mt. Kinabalu, stands at 13,455 ft. With a generally hot, wet climate,
rain is more common than not, with some portions of Borneo receiving
between 150 and 200 inches of rainfall annually. Between October and
March, monsoons buffet the island.

Given the abundance of rainfall, it makes sense that Borneo's flora
is among the most diverse in the world. Borneo has nearly 11,000 species
of flowering plants, about a third of which are indigenous. How dense
is the vegetation? In one 16 acre area of Borneo's lowland forest, over
700 species of trees have been recorded. In comparison, there are only
171 native tree species in all of eastern North America.

History and People

For most of the last millennium, Borneo remained isolated from the
rest of the world. Located further from Indian trade routes than other
parts of the Malay Peninsula, Borneo was less often the destination
of traders and immigrants. But in the 16th century, emissaries of Spain
and Portugal reached Borneo's shores. Soon after, the Dutch and British
arrived, and it was these two latter nations that held power in Borneo
from the 17th century into the modern era. In 1949, Indonesia became
a foreign state, and in 1957, Malaysia gained its independence. Today,
the population of Borneo consists of non-Muslim Dayaks and Islamic Malays,
as well as Chinese and Europeans.

Inland, Borneo is comprised of a variety of different native tribes,
each distinguishable from others by distinct language and culture. Before contact
was made with the West, Borneo's tribes often engaged in wars with one
another. Still, the tribes shared a host of similarities, including
dwellings, diet, and culture. Today, the Ibans are the largest indigenous group in East Malaysia.